The University Board’s proposed $5 per-semester concert fee was approved Wednesday by the Student Senate.

Three hurdles remain for the proposed fee, which are approval by Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs, interim President Lou Hencken, and Eastern’s Board of Trustees. If the fee is approved by the BOT at their April meeting, the fee will be included on student bills starting this fall.

The UB proposed the concert fee because rising costs of entertainment and loss of seating in Lantz Arena made it unrealistic to continue presenting concerts on a zero-based budget. The proposed fee will provide a base budget of about $50,000 per semester, dependent upon enrollment, which would ideally fund two to four concerts per year.

Concerns continued to arise about the fact that not all students would be able to attend all concerts. UB Vice Chair Caleb Judy said tickets would be sold on a first come, first served basis, and it is unlikely all students would want to attend every concert.

Speaker of the Senate Joe Robbins encouraged senate members to debate and think about their vote, since it adds another fee to student bills.

Some senate members were concerned that a performance could end up seeing a very low turnout, which could then empty the budget and prevent future concerts.

Judy responded by saying no concert at Eastern has ever sold less than 40 percent of the available tickets and no concert has lost more than about $20,000.

It would be impossible to bring an act to campus that no one would attend, since student input will be regarded when choosing the acts, Judy said. Within a month or so, planning will begin when UB members start calling agencies to see who will be on tour.

The senate will now have a logo to be placed on all senate posters, reports, and other information posted throughout campus. Adaptation of the logo is part of a campaign beginning to increase marketing of Student Government on campus.

The senate also voted to modify duties of the Housing Committee chair and to offer a position on senate committees to those non-senate members who apply for senate and are not offered a position.